I’m new here I have the 2002 Monte Carlo SS and I was just wondering what would be the best way to go about a the u-bend delete I’ve looked at other posts with multiple ways to go about it but should I got full resonator deleted with the u-bend or just straighten the bend itself any and all input is welcome, helpful and appreciated. FYI I’m fully stock as it stands right now I have also seen that if you buy a filter to replace the paper one that’s installed you can run cooler anyone know about this aswell?

 

"Best way" is subjective. MY best way would be to hack the cat and u-bend off and weld a pipe in place while leaving the res. This is if you dont have emissions standards in your area. Removing the resonator will add quite a bit of drone to the inside of the car and its a bit uncomfortable.

Another option is a downpipe replacement from ZZP. You can get them with the cat on or removed. A bit expensive but its a direct bolt on. It goes from the rear exhaust manifold to the res.

The intake thing... You dont want to just stick a cone filter under the hood, its just gonna suck hot air in and hurt performance. You have two options for improvement here. Buy a K&N high flow filter to go in the stock airbox or build a real CAI by routing piping or hose into the fenderwell or behind the headlight into the front bumper area. Option 1 really doesnt do much, you wont notice. Option 2 will give you a very small gain but still more than the K&N insert.

I suggest you also look into a tuned PCM from ZZP. That along with the u-bend delete and CAI will give you a small increase in power thats noticeable.

Is the 2002 SS supercharged?


EDIT: You can also do the u-bend delete without welding, exhaust clamps work perfectly fine.

 

Any suggestions as for wether I should go for a full catback system or just mufflers for my monte .ps came with no mufflers

 

I would go with the stock system after you figure out what you want to do with the ubend, cat, and res. These cars sound horrible with aftermarket exhausts and theres no gain to be had from swapping mufflers.

 

Also to the person who asked it is sadly not sc

 

I assume you are doing this for performance. My advice, keep OEM mounting flanges where they are unless you have a specific need for something and you know what you are after. Next, get a ZZP stainless downpipe, just replace your entire down pipe. Next, remove the resonator, weld in a piece of pipe. Again, maintain factory flanges. Now you have a u-bend delete, fresh cat and remove a performance restriction by ditching the resonator. This is pretty much how my 2004 Monte is set up (I also have the ZZP front PLOG).

 

The res shouldnt restrict airflow at all. Even after removing the u-bend.

 

I disagree. When I removed the res from my Monte, I noticed a performance gain. And when I did it with my 04 grand am, I was tracking knock in the factory tune and removal of the res dropped the factory knock in half. The res is a slight restriction.....

 

*Sigh*

Now im gonna spend the next week under my car cutting and welding, playing experiment. Your GrandAm tho, does that have the 34? Do you have a cat in either cars? Did you remove the res before or after the Plog install?

 

The Grand Am is the 3400. And the exhaust is all factory. I got rid of the resonator when the flange between the res and the cat were rusting apart and actually opened a little. And in that case, I was monitoring various readings and saw the knock in the tuning drop significantly. And someone in the Grand Am community showed pics of the inside to a factory res and found it is definitely a small restriction.

Now, the Monte.... When I got rid of the res on the Monte, I did have a PLOG and a ZZP Downpipe with high flow cat and u-bend delete installed. Sadly, I was NOT monitoring things like knock back then. But you could tell leaving the shop a little extra go-power (which I was not looking for OR expecting).

So in my book, ditch the res! I know comparing my Monte (dual muffler) to a friend's old 3800 Grand Prix SE (single muffler), the exhaust note difference is more noticeable in a single muffler set up. I never drove his Grand Prix before or after the res (and that Grand Prix was a beater with a heater).